Clash of star Kiwi stars on hold

4 September 2015

The connections of Spalato have mixed feelings about War Affair’s scratching from Sunday evening’s Gr.3 Jumbo Jet Trophy at Kranji.

They were due to go toe to toe in the 1400 metre event in an eagerly anticipated clash between the two New Zealand-bred stars of Singapore racing, but O’Reilly’s son War Affair will miss the race after suffering an injury during the week.

“We sent him for precautionary scans and, unfortunately, he has a small soft tissue injury,” trainer Alwin Tan said.

“I know a lot of fans will be disappointed. I am, too, but I had to put the horse’s welfare first and I also have to look after my owners.

“Hopefully, we’ll bring him back for the Kranji Mile. Who knows, maybe we will finally get to run against Spalato then.”

Spalato’s South Auckland breeder Trish Dunell, who races the Elusive City six-year-old with her husband Graham Mackie, shared Tan’s sentiments.

“It’s a real shame for the club, they’ve been building up to it so much and all the people were talking about it,” she said.

“I love War Affair and he’s a beautiful looking horse. Spalato’s mother is in foal to O’Reilly so it would be fantastic to get a combination of the two.”

Post-race plans for Spalato have yet to be confirmed, despite reports the horse was booked to enter quarantine for a possible Melbourne campaign.

“That’s pretty unlikely,” Dunell said. “We’ll look at the options after this race and if he was going to leave Singapore again then my personal preference would be for Dubai.”

In the more immediate future, the John O’Hara-trained Spalato has the Gr.1 Kranji Mile on October 4 and the Gr.1 Raffles Cup three weeks later on his doorstep.

Spalato is unbeaten in his seven Singapore starts with the only blemishes on the gelding’s record his two unplaced runs last year in Hong Kong, subsequently traced to a pelvic injury

G3 TAB Mile trifecta for Waikato sires

Recording his first Group victory, and second at black-type level after success in the Listed Lindauer Stewards Stakes some 12 months back, Ocean Park gelding Mystic Park led home an impressive one-two-three result for the Waikato stallions, defeating Sir Albert (Savabeel) and Cannon Hill (Ardrossan) in Wednesday’s Gr.3 TAB Mile (1600m) at Riccarton Park.

12 November 2025

The Corner with Garry Chittick

Sometimes you wonder, other times you realise what’s the point. We have two new Board members to help guide Thoroughbred Racing to a brighter, more enlightened future. Now, I don’t know either, and I am sure they have been confirmed for the right reasons – I think my concern is where is it our leaders believe they are taking us.